Breakfast at Nandi Hills

Nandi Hills

    Nandi Hills is a great place which lies at close proximity to Bangalore. It’s a good place to visit for it’s magnificient view once you reach the top. Makes you feels like you are on top of the clouds. It’s proximity to Bangalore makes it a good choice for a breakfast ride or for people looking for small break from work. The winding hill road is quite scenic and good for a bike ride.

View from Nandi Hills

Best time to Visit:

Any time of the year, but during Monsoon it’s a treat.

Distance from Bangalore:

80Kms approx

How to reach:

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Travelogue:

Nandi Hills was one of those places which could be a good hangout spot with buddies. That was my plan that weekend. One of my friend who was onsite for a year was back to Bangalore for a visit and we were planning for small hangout.

So as planned, Arun, Manas, Anirudh and myself started off for Nandi hills on 21st Nov, 2010. I had planned to meet the guys under the airport road flyover at 5 a.m. I was going to start off from Silk board while others were starting off from places in the city. Luckily everyone started early and to everyone's surprise Arun made it on time.

We continued on Devanhalli road till we reached the place where we need to take left for Nandi Hills. There is a clear marker indicating the same, but one can miss it early in the morning. Once you pass the airport junction where there is ramp for airport watchout for the left for Nandi hill. The road to nandi hill once we are off the highway is not that excellent but decent one to ride. Although you need to watchout for oncoming vehicles as the road is a bit narrow. We found a few group of Pulsar's on the way and ofcourse loads of couples mostly on Activa or Dio.

On this road you might end up on few junctions but it is quite easy to figure out the way . We reached the foothills at around 5.45 am. It was still pitch black and we could see a long queue of vehicles. At first I thought the traffic jam must be due to an accident or broken down vehicle, but later found out that it was due to some new rule the police had barricaded the ghat road. The ghat road opens at 6 am in the morning only and before that you are not allowed to go uphill. That was probably done to avoid accidents in the dark. Also this place is know for lots of drink-n-drive cases, so better watch out for cars with loud music and rash driving.

At the base of the hill it was like a  small fair. People had parked their cars everywhere and we having tea. A couple of chaiwallahs were having  a good time making profits. November was nice and cool and having a hot cup of tea in that cool early morning was a delight. we too parked out bikes and enjoyed tea. We could see a few guys playing loud music, enjoying beers and dancing. Once the police opened the barricade, we zoomed uphill on our bikes. On the way we found  a good spot to get a view off the hill and decided to stop for a few snaps. The sun was not fully out yet and the sky was filled with vibrant colours. It was mother nature's fine art, all those shades of red, orange filling up the infinite blue, truly a sight to gaze at! We took a few snaps and carried on ahead.

Pic taken midway to Nandi Hills, Beautiful effect of refraction.

The ghat road uphill is nice and winding one, not too difficult except for a few hairpins which are a bit narrow. Also watch out for vehicle parked in the middle of the road. people do stop for a  few snaps here and there and forget that the place they have parked their car is a blind spot. After a couple of minute we reached the parking lot to find a long queue for entry tickets. This is the max where you can take your two-wheeler. Don't remember the entry fee but its quite nominal. Plus the place is kept quite clean. Cars are allowed to go ahead with some premium fee about Rs.70-100 I guess. The only trouble this place is that there is only one filthy toilet, so if you woke up early and missed your daily chores, you are screwed. Moreover to add more they charge you Rs.5 to use the toilet.

View from Nandi Hills

We parked our bikes after finding one safe spot away from the hustle-n-bustle and after buying the tickets we had a cup of tea again, grabbed on to some pop corns and started our trail. The place was lush green and the early morning dew was making it more beautiful. Once on the top there are a few view points from where you can see clouds a level below yours. It looks just awesome! People try to take snaps climbing on to dangerously positioned rocks but it's just too risky. There are security guards who tell people to climb down the rocks on edges if they try to go ahead and do some superhuman stunts. The hill is like a table top and if you slip off the cliff it's a direct drop of 500 ft. We found a good spot to sit and relax. The started our usual discussions on motorcycles and snap! An hour went by just like that.

 It ain't Raymonds but it does feel like heaven

After roaming around for a while we decided to head back. Descending on those winding roads is quite fun. We managed to get to the base fast as there was no stop this time. We halted at a local eatery in one of the villages for some snacks. As usual there was idli, dosa and medu wada on the menu. The service was ultra slow and we were wondering if they guy is actually preparing the batter for idli once you order. Anirudh was getting impatient at times but Arun's chatter kept everyone occupied. Manas as usual was sitting silently and I was hell hungry waiting for the idlis to arrive. To our luck the food was good and then again there was a long wait for tea! Finally after having the tea we headed back for Bangalore. We decided to regroup just before the Hyderabad flyover. It took us about 45 mins to get there. After saying goodbye we dispersed off. I took the outer ring road to go back to Silk board. It was about 11 am and the police were on lookout for their Sunday chai-paani on the ring road. I had to be a bit careful as my bike was Maharashtra state registered. I managed to get past and reached back at around 11.45 am. It was a short and refreshing ride!